Why do trolls do what they do?

I think some of them get a kick out of it. Some weird perverse desire to offend and cause other people to become riled up.

Some of them think of it like a hobby. Many 4chan /b/tards do. Join forums and piss off people, causing other people strife and effort. Some of them do it for the LULZ.

Strictly for attention. They go back under the bridge if you ignore them but usually they do damage to sensitive people before they get ousted.

Unfortunately I don’t believe they have a lot going on in regular life and they use the internet to vent off their anger.

I have no evidence for this, since I’ve never really talked to a troll, but I have some ideas.

I think there is an anti-social component to trolldom. I suspect that trolls tend to be people who have difficulty being part of a community. Perhaps they’ve never felt a part of it, and they style themselves as outcasts and rebells. As such, they grant themselves permission to flaunt the rules.

They may even think they are doing the community a favor by livening things up. It gives honest people a foil to argue against. They justify it by thinking that people are here to argue, anyway. Or, at least have a good discussion.

I think some trolls get shoved into the role. They don’t have any intention of riling things up, but someone accuses them of it, they can’t defend themselves well, or no one believes them, and so they think, ‘fuck it, I might as well do what they say I do since they already believe I do it.’

I’m sure there are other reasons, but that’s what I’ve come up with.

oh those kinds of trolls, i thought you were talking about the kind with the jeweled tummies and the neon hair.

My room-mate created an account on Fluther when I did. His first three questions were troll questions. On the third someone flagged his Q. While he was laughing and making up his responses to people’s answers, it was as though he was robbing a bank knowing that he would never get caught.

He doesn’t interact with many people, really just his gf. As I watched him, I saw this: He knew that in the real world [face2face world] he couldn’t get away with the things he was saying to people, but on the web he couldn’t be held responsible/accountable for his words.

My very first Q was trolling, and I trolled all over La_Chica_Gomela (drops head in shame).

You gotta pay the toll troll if you wanna get into that boy’s hole

My impression is simply that they think they are clever. They set out to provoke a response, and they succeed, and therefore are convinced that they have outwitted their prey, making them superior to the lowly denizens of the internet.

Here is a long debate on a similar topic from a few months ago.

@TenaciousDenny a sunny reference always gets lurve!

Hello!! excuse me, but What is a troll?
I’ve got a Rapala and a Lazy Ike, if you’re trolling for Northerns, maybe a Muskie if you’re lucky. But, what is a “Troll”?
is it that whitch on the other side?
Somebody help me!!
Minnesota Rocks!!

Trolls stand around and look cute. Here’s proof of that.

For teh lulz.

@Jayne I completely agree with you. I also believe that they are more of an extrovert than introvert. At least for some of them.

I think they are just bored